Plant for feeding material to blast-furnaces.



PATENTED SEPT. 15, 1903.

W. KENNEDY. PLANT FOR FEEDING MATERIAL T0 BLAST FURNACES.

APPLIOATIONI'ILED MAY 31. 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR WITNESSES W Atty.

N0. 738 815, PATENTEYD SEPT. 15, 1903.

v W. KENNEDY. PLANT FGR FEEDING MATERIAL T0 BLAST FURNACES.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ABB'LIQA'KIQN TILED MAY 31' 1902.

R0 MGBHL Atty.

l I E INVENTOR v W I WlTN ESSES XKWM flu 1s PETERS cs. PHQm-Ln-wm WASHINGTON, u c.

Patented September 15, 1903.

-AT FICFW WVALTER KENNEDY, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,815, dated September 15, 1903.

Application filed May 31, 1902. Serial No. 109,777. (No model.) i

To ail whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,.WALTER KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Plants for Feeding Material to Blast-Furnaces, of which improvements the following is a specification.

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in apparatus or plants for the charging of blast-furnaces with various materials required in the operation of the latter.

In general terms the invention consists in the provision of a tunnel passing over the skipway on which the cars carrying the material to the top of the furnace travel and of chutes or passage-ways extending from said tunnel at various points to the place or places of storage of the ore, coke, &c., and the arrangement of cars within such tunnel, so as to transfer the material to the cars on the skip or inclined way.

The invention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1' is a view in elevation, showing the arrangement of the tunnel, the trestle on which the cars pass to discharge the materials in piles above such tunnel, and the skipway intersecting the tunnel. Fig. 2 isa transverse section, on an enlarged scale, of the tunnel, showing the chutes and means for closing their lower ends. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the storage yard or space for the coke and ore, the tunnel being shown in dotted lines; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section on a plane indicated by the line IV IV,- Fig. 2.

In the practice of my invention the skip or inclined way 1, along which the cars 2 travel to convey the material to the top of the furnace, is extended down a sufficient distance to pass under a passage-way or tunnel 3, so that the cars 2 will when in their lower position be directly under cars 4, adapted to move along rails in the tunnel. An opening the other.

porting the cars 4 at their point of discharge should form the platform of weighing-scales in a manner well known in the art, so that the amount of each material to be charged into the furnace may be ascertained.

While not essential, it is preferred that the coke should be discharged at a point on one side of the tunnel and above or nearly above the position of the cars 2 when receiving their load. As it is not generally necessary to weigh the coke chargedinto a furnace, an inclined bed 5 is arranged on one side of the tunnel, such inclined bed terminating in spouts 7, which pass under the tunnel and are arranged to discharge coke into the cars 2 on the skipway. The movement of coke through the spouts is regulated by doors 7",

adapted to be shifted by levers by an attendant in the tunnel or above the same. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a trestle-work 8 is arranged to pass above the inclined bed 5 or point of storage of the coke, so that cars containing coke may deposit their load immediately above the inclined floor. To prevent any undue spreading of the coke beyond the inclined floor, a bulkhead '10 is arranged above or nearly above and parallel with the trestle-work 8 and tunnel 3, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. While not necessary, it

may be at times desirable to erect auxiliary bulkheads 11 at right angles to the main bulkhead, so as to prevent the inter-mingling of the coke with ore or other materials which are to be charged into the furnace.

Two series of chutes 12 extend from the side walls of the tunnel at an inclination up through the floor or ground level on which the ore or other material is deposited from the cars traveling along the trestles S and 13. The upper ends of these inclined chutes or passages are so located with reference to the deposit of material from the cars on the trestles that the majority of the material so deposited will flow. into one or more of the it chutes, so that onlyin extreme cases will any handling of the material be necessary to charge the cars 4 in the tunnel. While any suitable form or construction of doors or gates may be employed to close the chutes 12, the construction shown is preferred, which consists in forming the doors 14 of a spout-like contour and so pivoting them at the inner ends of the chutes that when turned up they will prevent a passage of material through the chutes and when turned down will form prolongations of the chutes and direct the material into the cars 4. While any suitable form or construction of mechanism may be employed for shifting these doors, it is preferred to employ fluid-pressure cylinders 15, pivotally mounted on bearings and having their piston-rods connected to the doors, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. By this construction any desired power for operating the doors may be easily applied thereto, thus avoiding any excessive exertion on the part of the operator. I

It is characteristic of my improvement that no bins or storage-reservoirs are required; but the material is merely dumped upon the ground or floor, as is the present practice, and will flow thence through the chutes into the cars 4 or in the case of coke directly into the cars 2 on the skipway. The bulkheads described herein are not necessary,

but are employed merely as a means forvpreventing an undue intermingling of two mate rials which are to be charged separately, and said bulkheads may easily be formed by walls built with large pieces of the coke or ore or other material.

As shown in Fig. 4, the floor of the tunnel is inclined toward the point of intersection of the skipway therewith, and the cars 4 are connected to ropes 16, passing over the elevated pulleys and having weights hung thereon, the weights being so proportioned as to be capable of pulling an empty car up the inclines, but will permit a loaded car to run easily down the inclines to the point of discharge. This construction avoids the employment of men or power mechanism to shift the cars to and fro along the tunnel.

I claim herein as my invention- A plant for feeding materials to a blastfurnace, having in combination a tunnel provided with chutes or passages extending to the surface of the ground and having an opening inthe bottom thereof for the passage of,

materials, gates for closing said chutes, a skipway extending from the top of the furnace to a point below the opening in the bottom of the tunnel, cars-movable along the tunnel and skipway, and automatically-operating mechanism for shifting the cars along the tunnel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 55 my hand.

WALTER KENNEDY. Witnesses:

DARWIN S. WoLooT'r, F. E. GAITHER. 

